Sewing-machine needle



J. W. PACKARD. Sewing. Machine Needl e.

No. 241,708. Patented May 17, I881.

Fig 3. Fig i UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JAMES W. PACKARD, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SEWING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,708, dated May 17, 1881.

' Application filed May 12, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. PACKARD, of Springfield, Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sewing-Machine Needles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of m y invention is the production of a self-setting sewing-machine needle-that is to say, so forming the needle that by setting it in the slide the eye of the needle will be brought into proper relation to the shuttle without requiring any special skill on the part of the operator.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved needle. Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a front view, and Fig. 4is an enlarged part section of the same.

A represents a sewing-machine needle, and B the flattened and ribbed or flanged portion thereof, made in accordance with my invention.

a is the shank of the needle, b the shaft, and e the eye near the point thereof. At the lower end of the shank, and at its junction with the shaft, is formed the flattened and ribbed portion B, consisting of the flat part0 and ribs or flanges cl.

The needle is formed from round wire or stock corresponding in size to the socket in the needle-slide, and the shaft is milled or otherwise reduced to the desired s ze, all in the usual manner.

The flattened and ribbed portion B is formed by pressing or swaging. The ribs prevent the shank from going too far into the socket in the needle-slide, and the flattened part insures the setting to be such that the eye is presented at right angles to the shuttle or its equivalent.

1 am aware that means have been devised to insure accuracy in various adjustments of the needle-such, for example, as forming the needle, including its shank, of square wire or stock; also, forming the needle of much larger stock than required for the shank, and then reducing both the shaft and shank to proper size, and thus leave a collar or enlargement at the end of the shank, to prevent the needle from entering too far into the socket; also, by cutting away a portion of the shank and forming therein a groove to receive the end of the binding-screw. 'In all these cases the object has been to form the shank in such manner that it may act more or less perfectly as a guide in setting the needle.

I do not therefore claim, broadly, a self-setting needle; but by my improvement a very simple and effective device is produced, using the ordinary round wire or stock in the manufacture, just large enough to fit the socket in the needle-bar, the ribs being pressed or swaged out and the flat part formed at the same time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is A sewing-machine needle formed of round wire or stock, having a flat part, c, and ribs d formed at the junction of the shank and shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JAMES W. PACKARD.

Witnesses:

L. D. PACKARD, GEO. E. BELTON. 

